Archive for the TRULY TRANSRACIAL Category

Shear Genius judge and Vietnamese-French hair whiz Kim Vo (above, in blonde) has just opened his second Montage Hotel salon — a day-old space at the Montage’s Laguna Beach property where he will clip, color and curl the locks of the local and global fabulocracy.

Oscar organizers — concerned over sagging advertiser support — are working overtime to get Anglo/Sri Lankan rapper MIA on the show. Never mind she’s just had a baby — Academy Award officials are willing to even let her perform from her bed to secure an appearance. MIA is nominated for O Saya from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. Oscar folks are clearly mindful of the buzz MIA generated by performing at the recent Grammy Awards on her due date. They hope she will lure viewers once again appearing so close to her recent delivery.

According to the new Esquire magazine, 31 year-old Kenyatte Nelson (far left), is the “best dressed real man” in America. Nelson, a Proctor & Gamble brand manager in Ohio, beat out thousands of other stylizers for the coveted title — which includes some $40,000 in prizes. The man has about 20 suits and is big on Hugo Boss. Transracial tid-bit: His mom grew up in South Carolina and speaks Gullah, the rare West African-based dialect of the region once spoken by former slaves. Slick!

Readers from yesterday will recall our attempts to interview singers Noa (above) and Mira Awad for Time magazine — the (Jewish and Arab) Israelis who will represent their nation at Eurovision in Moscow in May. We’ll, we just got off the phone with them both and can report they are as eloquent and elegant (at least via voice) as they are in photos and videos. This week the duo performed a special song from Jerusalem for Dutch TV — a musical sneak peek at the kind of coexistence that Mira and Noa are fighting for.

Blame it on the Jew-fro! Singer Phoebe Snow, a regular old Jewish chick, was recently named one of Bergen County’s “black music industry greats” by New Jersey magazine (201) — along with real black folk Stevie Wonder, Puffy and George Benson. It’s not the first time Snow (nee Phoebe Ann Laub) has been mistaken for a sister — so she’s decided (as Oprah recently did) to take a DNA test to find out all about her genetic bona fides. Transracial, indeed!

Uptown Frenchman Thomas Obaton (above) is the chef behind the stoves at Chez Lucienne, the first fancy French bistro to open in Harlem — how Transracial! Opened last week, the 60-seat eatery comes courtesy of Obaton and a pair of Daniel alums, Matthew Tivy and Jerome Bougherdani. Dishes are tres Rive Gauche — beef bourguignonne to calf liver croquettes and the indulgent dessert above — all enjoyed amid elegant power-blue banquettes.
Ghetto gourmet!

Finally some good news coming out of the Holy Land. Israeli Arab singer Mira Awad (above) has been selected to represent Israel in this May’s Eurovision contest in Moscow. It is the first time Israel has ever selected an Arab to sing on its behalf and Awad — a local stage and TV starette — will be sharing the stage Transracially with Jewish-Israeli singer, Noa. Both have worked together before and Noa — who’s sung with big shots like Sting — has been a long-time peace activist type. We’ve met Mira and can confirm she’s totally rad. And our niece is named Noa, so clearly that’s all good.

Right now both, says her manager, “are in the studio recording for Eurovision”. Perhaps. We do know that Transracial’s attempts to interview the pair are resulting in annoyance and frustration and considering Israel’s often dismal Eurovision scores, we hope they wisely milk their media moment with grace and intelligence.